Google spent $1.6B on 40 companies in 9 months

Google's 2010 acquisition-spending spree has so far involved 40 companies and a total of $1.6 billion, the company revealed today.

It's been a busy year for the men and women of Google's mergers-and-acquisitions team, closing an average of 4.4 deals a month, according to Google's quarterly report filed with the U.s. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. The top three deals involved AdMob, at a final price of $681 million, Slide, at a final price of $179 million, and On2 Technologies, at a final price of $123 million.

With $33 billion in cash to close the third quarter, it's not like Google sweated the payments on any of these deals. And given the resurgence of the online-advertising market that fuels Google's profits, don't expect Google to take its foot off the gas anytime soon.